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Macauley Lord: A Life of Fly Fishing

While it was not his first fish, the inscription Macauley Lord found on his grandmother’s door—”May 20, 1968, ML – 13 bluegill”—was most likely his first fishing report. But his first fish was actually at six years of age in a farm pond in Kentucky. He found his true passion when he first picked up a fly rod at the age of 12. From then on, his life was fly fishing. In 1986, he turned the hobby into a career when he took a job with L.L. Bean, teaching fly fishing in the summer and performing miscellaneous tasks in the winter.

Now, even though recently Lord has moved on to a new vocation, the seminary, he does so with the lessons he learned as a fly-fishing instructor. “In teaching, as in ministry, I’m developing a bond with another person,” he said. “I’m always drawn to meaning. When you teach someone to make a good cast, that’s a beautiful moment. You’re teaching them to cast out into the universe. With prisoners, you’re helping them cast out, in a way, to find some peace and hope and sanity.”